Marshall at Purdue postgame

The good news – Purdue probably won’t face a better offense in the Big Ten than what it saw from Marshall.

The bad news – Purdue probably won’t face a worse defense in the Big Ten than what it saw from Marshall.

What does Saturday’s 51-41 victory by the Boilermakers mean? Hard to tell. We’ll try to explain.

On with the countdown:

5 PLAYERS WE LIKED

• Ricardo Allen. Put his name in the Purdue record book with his fourth interception return for a touchdown when she sprinted 39 yards in the second quarter.

He moved ahead of Rod Woodson and Mike Rose on the career list. He has a knack, that’s for sure. Says when his mother, Brenda Green, shows up and he gets interception. Is she coming back next week? Has seven career picks and should find a few more, possibly next week against Michigan’s Denard Robinson.

• Josh Johnson. Does get lost in Allen’s shadow, if that’s possible. He’s been nothing but steady in his career.

In his final season, he’s playing well. Was able to get a Pick 6 of his own, stepping in front of a slant route and scoring from 74 yards to continue the second-quarter onslaught. You could tell the secondary was coached well this week because they were jumping routes all day. Rakeem Cato completed a ton of passes, but the secondary made him pay for his mistakes.

• Caleb TerBush. Needed a big game and delivered, especially in the first half. But why can’t a Purdue quarterback break the 300-yard mark? Saturday marked the 30th straight game an individual Boilermaker quarterback hasn’t thrown for more than 300 yards. Last time was Joey Elliott in 2009. Isn’t Purdue the Cradle of Quarterbacks?

TerBush helped the Boilermakers reach the end zone on four of its five possessions. Finished with a career-best 294 yards and four touchdowns, including three to Gary Bush. However, another third-quarter meltdown nearly cost the Boilermakers again. Not sure what goes on at halftime but it needs fixed.

• Gary Bush. Antavian Edison makes the play on third down and O.J. Ross collects the most catches. Bush caught the most touchdowns.

Still has some issues with drops, but has emerged to become a threat. Had three scores covering 9, 35 and 7-yards. The final score allowed the Boilermakers to breath after the Herd closed within 10 points.

• Rakeem Cato. The Marshall quarterback received high praise from the Boilermakers after the game. Love his quick release. He’s only a sophomore but he knows where he’s going with the ball and where to put it. Completed 45 of 68 passes for 439 yards and five touchdowns. The three interceptions were costly and came within a span of seven attempts. His former high school teammate – Tommy Shuler – was the main target, catching 19 passes for 200 yards. His receivers didn’t have a lot of drops and made it hard on the defense all day. You’re happy he’ll be gone in 2015 when the Boilermakers visit Marshall.

4 KEY PLAYS

• Antoine Lewis interception. The sophomore’s pick – the first of the day by Cato – will be overlooked in the big picture of the game. But it was important. Purdue led 21-14 at the time and Marshall was driving. The Boilermakers quickly turned the mistakes into points to build a 28-14 advantage.

• Allen’s interception. What else can be said.

• Johnson’s interception. Probably the killer.

• Purdue’s fourth down conversion. Tied at 14, the Boilermakers were facing fourth-and-1 from the Marshall 13. Coach Danny Hope sent freshman Paul Griggs to attempt his first field goal, but Hope called a time. He decided to go for the first down, which was picked by TerBush on a 2-yard run. It led to Akeem Shavers’ 2-yard run and a 21-14 lead with 9:30 on the clock. This was the right decision because Marshall proved it could move the ball and a field goal at that point of the game wasn’t going to make a difference.

3 NUMBERS

3.3

Average yard per carry by Purdue’s running backs against one of the nation’s worst run defenses. Counting the quarterbacks, the Boilermakers averaged 2.8 yards per carry.

23

Consecutive passes completed by Cato, including the three interceptions. He completed 17 straight passes before Lewis came up with the first interception.

25

Consecutive games Antavian Edison has caught a pass.

Bonus number

181

Combined plays run by Purdue and Marshall

2 QUESTIONS

• Will Purdue’s offensive line hold up during Big Ten play?

• Are the penalties going to be a problem once the conference season starts? Purdue had nine for 80 yards.

1 FINAL THOUGHT

This is what you wanted. You wanted the Boilermakers to win. They’ve won the games they should have. Only a three-point loss at Notre Dame stands in the way of being 4-0. Purdue is 3-1 for the first time since 2007. No bad non-conference losses. No Northern Illinois, Toledo or Rice to make jokes about. The Boilermakers have taken care of business and move into Big Ten play with momentum.

However, there’s still issues. The penalties were disturbing, the special teams mistakes are unacceptable and these third-quarter problems have to get resolved, or they will cost Purdue a game. Don’t get caught up in the yards Marshall accumulated because that type of offense doesn’t exist in the Big Ten. You should be concerned about the offense. Remember, the Boilermakers were sluggish in the third quarter and struggled to run the ball against a poor defense. You can’t be one-dimensional in the league and get away with it.

Now, welcome to the Big Ten death march – Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State. What was an intimidating stretch at the start of the season doesn’t look as opposing right now.